Gregory Park is a large sprawling park occupying the space between Baroona Road and Milton State School. It has a cricket pitch in the middle of it that is surrounded by a large circle of fairly-healthy grass and little else until you reach the extensive perimeter. There's a basketball half-court and a respectable, brightly painted public toilet in one corner and a playground in another. (The playground seems to be open to the public during the day, but I've seen the local school kids using the equipment during school hours.) Flanking the playground corner is a series of fence posts, carved and coloured to look like a rainbow spectrum of coloured pencils. Even as a (technical) adult, I have to admit this is a pretty cool effect.
Another corner features a tennis court where I've managed to whack a ball over the net and the fence itself a few times. I can't remember the fee for using the court, but I remember thinking the price was insane even by the standard of already-exorbitant court rental fees across Brisbane. (If you don't care about price, the courts are pretty decent hard-court ones and the owners can be contacted on 0437 953 980).
It's a friendly park and a lot happens here. Families have picnics and barbecues, people play informal games of cricket, football, basketball or soccer and some others come to just relax and just read on the grass. I went to a martial arts class here once and found being outside and training on the grass was a fantastic experience.
I should warn you now, however - at night, I've seen fire twirlers and bongo players having a good old hippy hoedown in the middle of the park. Next thing you know, it'll be hacky-sack or soulful guitar playing. It could eventually turn into a Hippy Jam-Band Festival of epic proportions. read more